My full preview of this weekend's Boston Book Fair is here; I still have a pass or two, so if you need one, drop me an email and I'll connect you with it.
While the booksellers get set up for tonight's opening (5 p.m. at the Hynes), I wanted to note last evening's events at the Boston Athenaeum:
Bonhams hosted a preview of interesting Massachusetts books from their upcoming "The American Experience" sale on 2 December, which promises to be a fascinating auction (I'll have a full preview after this weekend). Specialist Matthew Haley discussed four important books pertaining to the early colonial period in MA: John Smith's Advertisements For the unexperienced Planters of New-England (1631), William Wood's New England Prospect (1635), and John Josselyn's New England's Rarities Discovered (1672) and Account of Two Voyages to New-England (1674). Matthew's talk was amusing and covered the books' significance quite well; many thanks to Bonhams (and most particularly to their New England Regional Representative, Sarah Valelly) for coordinating the preview.
As it happened the ABAA booksellers were coming to the Athenaeum for their pre-sale reception, so we were invited to stick around and join them for refreshments and continued biblio-discussions. So that made for a very nice end to the evening, as we got to meet and greet old and new dealer friends (Ian's take on the reception is here, with photos) and get a sense of the neat things they'll have in their booths this weekend.
